Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 1.2% Higher – Here’s Why

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price rose 1.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $267.83 and last traded at $266.0610. Approximately 5,904,796 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 7,024,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $262.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Northland Capmk cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.74.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $249.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $249.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.54.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.41 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 157,284 shares of company stock worth $37,274,684. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in Salesforce by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 1,770 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 365.9% in the first quarter. Sciencast Management LP now owns 3,648 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.